Muggles and Mayhem
by joaleennicole
Summary: I swear I'll review your stories if you review mine. This is my first fanfic. Read and Review!
1. The Oddity of All, and all their Causes

_**Muggles and Mayhem**_**, by joaleennicole**

**NOTES**

**The characters and events portrayed in this story are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and not intended by the author.**

**Gentle criticism is discretionary, but there are some rules regarding this account that will be discussed later on and throughout this narrative.**

**This story is written for fandom, and you may write certain reviews regarding so, as long as you accede with the rubric written at the end of this material.**

**Anonymous reviews are permitted.**

**Anyways, that's all. Enjoy, okay? I'd hate it if you don't, but like I had written above, I especially welcome reviews. Just rate this material from one to ten (ten being the highest). That's the only rubric. It goes the same for the other chapters. I'm open to questioning! Anyways, **_**Divertirsi!**_**(It's Italian for enjoy).**

**P.S. I'm Filipino, not Italian, nor French, nor American, and I write to amuse myself. Anyway, I have read more than a hundred books in particular, for a fifteen-year-old.**

**P.S.S. I do **_**not **_**own Harry Potter, and I'm **_**not **_**J.K. Rowling.**

**~joaleennicole**

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><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

**The Oddity of All, and All their Causes**

Lily Luna Potter sat on the edge of her bed, reading _Quidditch Through the Ages_. Her bedroom door was ajar, and as she read she glanced back and forth, from the book to the door, as if she's expecting someone to enter through it. Her father, the infamous Harry Potter, was an Auror in the Ministry of Magic, but Lily had never relished the fame her father had brought into his family. She just kept a low profile, just like what a normal witch on her very first year at Hogwarts would do. She was just waiting in her own bedroom for her mother, Ginny, to call her for a trip to platform nine and three-quarters. Today was the day she would be sent into Hogwarts.

Her brother, James, had always teased her about what would happen at Hogwarts. He said that if you fall out of the boat while on your way across the cold lake, the Giant Squid will gobble you up. Lily had always believed that myth, and she had complained a lot about it, and gave thought about it, but Ginny had assured her that James is lying. James is always lying.

As she waited for her mother, she managed to come across a book her father had owned. It was entitled _Quidditch Through the Ages_, and she was immersed in it for quite a time.

"Lily!" Ginny called. Lily jumped up so fast that the book skittered down her lap and landed on the floor with a loud _thud_.

"What is it, Mum?" Lily called. She picked the book up and threw it into her trunk. Her wand — 12 inches long, birch, with a phoenix feather core — lay untouched on her bed. She also threw it into her trunk along with the books they had bought just yesterday from Diagon Alley.

"Lily, have you packed your things already? You father's on his way home. Also, can you call your brothers for me, please? They don't seem to hear a thing." Her Mum said.

"Yes, Mum!" said Lily, half-heartedly going out of her room and knocking on James' door first, whose room was just in front of hers. James, still groggy, opened the door for her, but when he saw who it was he shut the door flat onto her face. James had never been Lily's favourite brother.

"Mum, James just shut the door on me!" she yelled.

"Just leave him, then. Go up to the attic and wake Albus up instead. He's a way better listener than James." Then Ginny, to James, yelled, "James Sirius Potter, _would you please get down here NOW?"_

Lily smiled to herself. She figured that her first day would turn out quite okay.

On the other hand, Albus, after seeing Lily, welcomed her into her room, although he looked quite grumpy about it. He was still packing, and that was obvious from the way he crammed his clothes into his trunk and his books into his cauldron.

"Albus, Dad's on his way home." She said.

"Oh, is he? I'm not yet done packing. Now where is that…_ow!_"

Albus jumped around, shaking his finger. A Cornish pixie that managed to get into his trunk unnoticed was gnawing on his finger. Albus pulled on it, but the pixie was firm.

"Lily, can you please get my wand? I think my finger's losing circulation." He said, pointing at the trunk.

Lily stared at him, wide-eyed. "No way am I going to get that! There might be more pixies in there!"

"Only one managed to get in, Lily. Stop fussing around!"

"But Albus, Mum said —"

"Enough with the _Mum said_! Merlin's beard, can you please get that stupid wand?"

Lily fumbled around to get Albus's wand.

Albus, grabbing the wand from his sister, pointed it at the blue pixie.

"_Expelliarmus!_" He yelled. The pixie flew a few meters into the air, and crashed back into Albus' trunk. Dazed, it got into feet, and buried itself just underneath Albus' copy of _The Standard Book of Spells_ _Grade 3_.

"That thing," said Albus, still shaking his swollen finger. "Wouldn't get out of my trunk. I think that it set up its permanent residence back there."

"Are you okay, then?" Lily asked. "Is your finger okay?"

Albus held up his finger for Lily to see. "It's purple. I _swear _that I would never pack my stuff up without Mum. That pixie's going to pay."

"So are you ready, now?" Lily asked. "Dad's almost home from the Ministry, and Mum asked me to call you. We might miss the train."

"Don't be silly, Lily. We're not going to miss the Hogwarts Express. Platform nine and three-quarters will not vanish. King's Cross wouldn't, either."

"Albus…"

"Shut up, Lily. Just wait for me, downstairs, will you? I'm just going to lock my trunk up and prepare my cauldron."

Lily, shoved out of Albus' room, went to lug her trunk out of her room to the first story of their quaint, little home.

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><p>When Lily got downstairs, she found her father and her mother, Harry and Ginny, sitting round their small table. Her father, Harry James Potter, was just home from working overnight at the Ministry. Harry was holding a box of <em>Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans<em>, and a box of chocolate frogs was seated on the table. Ginny, looking cross, was carefully fixing the flower arrangement, and the awkward James was standing by her side.

"If it is not Lily!" said Harry cheerfully. "How are you, my dear? Are you ready for your first day at Hogwarts?"

"I dunno, Dad. Today feels a little….different."

"Everyday always feels different. Don't be nervous, dear. When I was your age —"

"Enough with all that drabble, Harry. Good lord, will you look at the time." said Ginny.

Harry picked up _the Daily Prophet_ and regarded the front page carefully. "Oh, I'd kill that Skeeter woman." He said. "Can't leave the Ministry alone, can she?"

"Why, dear?" asked Ginny, but Harry just groaned.

"Mum?" James asked in what Lily thought was a jaunty voice. "Can I get my trunk now?"

"James, I've been telling you that a thousand times already. How come you haven't done it yet? And _Albus _—"

Albus, who just appeared at the foot of the stairs, with his trunk right behind him, looked frantically at his mother. His pet ferret, Hobbes, was perched on his shoulder, fat as ever.

"What did I just do, Mum?" he asked.

Ginny smiled. "An owl arrived, and it's for you. You better check the mail, dear."

Albus hurriedly went to the living room to get his mail.

Lily knew who had been sending Albus some mail. There was a girl named Ambrose Macmillan, and she and Albus had started writing to each other since the last day of school. Albus had been in his room ever since, and he rarely came out unless that it is time for supper.

"Is your brother seeing someone?" said Ginny to James.

"I dunno," said James, shrugging. "Why should I find out?"

Ginny pursed her lips. "It is for the reason that he rarely goes down unless he is called."

"Mum, he _rarely _comes down because you rarely _call him_," said James. "It's not my fault if it took him a lot of time to write to his _girlfriend_."

Ginny turned a bright shade of pink. "_Albus has a girlfriend? What do you mean Albus has a girlfriend?" _she bellowed, swelling up like a balloon.

Harry closed _the Daily Prophet_ and placed it on the table. "Oh, really?" he asked. "Who is it? I might prefer it if she's a Macmillan. I hear that Ambrosia's a beauty."

"Harry, not you too…"

"Oh, please, Ginny. Don't be too overprotective. Albus is a teenager. He's not eight years old."

"Ambrose looks like an electrocuted, half-drowned cat with no fur," James said, snickering to himself. "I'll have to give my point to Mum — Daddy's smart, but Mommy knows everything."

"Ambrosia Macmillan has quite an exquisite face, James. You should give her credit for that. I've seen her around the Ministry a couple of times…" said Harry, picking up the newspaper once again.

Ginny looked exasperatingly at the clock above the counter. It was a quarter past ten, and time is running short before they catch the train.

"Harry, Harry, dear, I think that we should go and hurry. James, out of your pyjamas! Go get your trunk down from your room, and help your dad get the luggage into the car. Lily, come over here — your hair is like a haystack I could drop a needle in it!"

Ginny brusquely pulled Lily aside and ran a plastic, blue hairbrush through her flaming (and tangled) red hair. Lily's Mum did it so forcibly that Lily felt as if her head might fall off at any moment.

"Ow. Ow. Ow." she said whenever Ginny pulled at the wrong spot, and whenever she did say this, Ginny would say, "Stop complaining! If you won't stay still and let me do this, we _might _miss the train!",to much of Lily's extreme aggravation.

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><p>At ten o'clock, everybody was running around the house, yelling at each other and toppling over each other's trunks. James ran around with a piece of toast in his mouth while carrying his pet ferret Blitzer's cage in his hand, and lugging his trunk in the other. Lily's dad accidentally spilled coffee on the front of their Mum's clothes, and they had to wait for another five minutes so that their Mum could get dressed properly. Soon, all of them were crammed inside their (bewitched) car, and Harry was about to start the engine when James forgot to grab his broomstick. By ten-thirty, all of them were set for King's Cross.<p>

The station was jam-packed with Muggles (non-magickal people) of all sorts. It was easy to get to platform nine and three-quarters. All you have to do is walk through the barrier dividing platforms nine and ten. The tricky part is getting there without attracting a pair of curious, inquisitive, Muggle eyes, and it took them quite a time because Blitzer wasn't helping — she shrieked and flailed when James accidentally dropped her. The guard — bless him — drove the other Muggles back to their own businesses, but looked mildly curious himself. Ferrets weren't very popular pets, and so were owls, since he told the strange family that he had seen a couple of peculiar people (with owls) vanishing through the barrier.

"An' they disappear like that — _whoosh _— an' all I thought was, _Hey! They were here a while ago! _I didn't know what to believe, really, when I saw the next guy, and the next. An' all I thought I was just hallucinatin'! Bothers me, I'd say! I see people vanishin' here and there each year. I just keep a mouth shut cause people will think that I'm crazy."

Harry was pretty disturbed by this, and he instantly used a memory charm on the poor guard before he can even say another word. The guard scratched his head, walked away, and mumbled something under his breath.

"That takes care of him," said Harry. "I don't know what the Ministry will say if another case like this opens up. It's a good thing it was only the guard who noticed. If something like that happens again, the Ministry might've closed down. We've got around twenty cases like that back there, and twenty more with all the disappearances, and all of them were made in less than a month."

"Really, dear?" said Ginny. "Is the Ministry doing something about it?'

"Well, of course. Our Obliviators aren't doing any better, though — they've been running around taking care of all those Muggles. The Aurors are helping out, too. Ron's been having a pretty hard time. There's one Muggle who just can't forget, and Ron's dealing with him. Ron's not a very good Obliviator, I'll tell you, and the Muggles and Rita Skeeter aren't helping. That Skeeter woman's been in our nerves for years. She's been writing stuff about the disappearances. She says that Hadrian Whittle's _just on vacation and the Ministry's too imperceptive to know_. One day I'll really tell them that she's an unregistered Animagus."

"Oh, that's a bad thing." Ginny said, clucking her tongue in disapproval. "What kinds of cases? Why are the Muggles troublesome?"

"Oh, you know — rogue witches and wizards showing up here and there. There's an old woman who claimed she was Miranda Goshawk, I daresay."

Lily knew who Miranda Goshawk is. She's a famous author in the Wizardry world, and she had written lots of books, including a couple of what they use in Hogwarts. She had written at least twenty, in particular, when she disappeared a year ago. No one knows where she is.

"Did you have any luck catching them, Dad?" asked Albus, still scanning his letter from Ambrosia Macmillan. "Do you know who they are?"

Harry shook his head. "No. The Muggles aren't helping, like I told you. They were confused. Dazed, I may add. Nope. Not the Confundus charm, Lily. Something else, entirely." He added, seeing Lily's face. "They don't remember where they live, and what their names are, and also the wizards who appeared to them, but they remembered seeing something impossible. Like a selective memory charm. The oddity of all is that they claimed they were all known witches and wizards. Their memories are being modified right now."

"Poor things," said Ginny. "I hope that they get their rightful memories back."

"I agree. The disappearances, these problems — I do hope that we'll finally have a solution for all of this. As for the disappearances —" he said, looking at them with careful eyes. "I do hope that these people are _really _on vacation."

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><p><strong>Look out for the next chapter: Speculations and Lies.<strong>

**For the reviews: Please rate it from one to ten (ten being the highest).**

**This material is in regards to these following authors: J.K Rowling, Rick Riordan, Trenton Lee Stewart, Cassandra Clare, and Daniel Handler. These authors inspired me in all aspects of life.**

**Thank you for reading the first chapter!**


	2. Speculations and Lies

**I would like to thank these following reviewers: ImagineToTheFullest and Rabidus Rex. I also thank the anonymous reviewers.**

**Your reviews inspired this chapter. Nevertheless, I present to you the second chapter of **_**Logic, Puzzles, and Hidden Messages**_**: Speculations and Lies. Review again, if you'd like, and for those who had skipped to this chapter instead of reading the first one, please be advised to rate this from one to ten (ten being the highest). The other rules and notes are posted in the first chapter. Thank you and enjoy!**

**~joaleennicole**

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><p><strong>Chapter Two<strong>

**Speculations and Lies**

Platform nine and three-quarters was crowded with witches and wizards of all sorts.

Lily Potter, squinting hard to look properly at her godfather, Theodore Lupin, was knocked out of air as Lupin — golden robes and all — tackled her so hard that she almost toppled down to the ground. Teddy's greeting, delivered at full tilt, was more of a football tackle than a hug, and when he did hug her in a vicelike grip, Lily felt all the air in her body knocked clean away.

"If it isn't my little scalawag!" Teddy exclaimed, mussing up her hair. "How are you? It's your first year, I heard."

Lily, suffering from the panicky feeling one has after being knocked out of air, nodded weakly at her godfather, nonetheless trying to smile and look upbeat other than looking like a stranded fish that lay way out of water.

Teddy grinned, probably taking her expression as one of those which shows complete enthusiasm, which is partly true in Lily's case. "You're going to have a great time at Hogwarts. I believe that you have heard about me being your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? Great isn't it? Oh, hey, Harry." He told Harry. Lily knew that Lupin is her Dad's godchild, like she being Lupin's godchild, too. "How's the Ministry?"

"Bad." Harry replied. "We still have no clues about the ongoing disappearances."

"I've heard about the Muggle issue. How was it?"

"Bad, also." said Harry, and before he even started his conversation with Teddy, Lily, still gasping for air, walked around to look for her cousins Rose and Hugo Weasley, who were sitting at a station bench with their Mum and Dad.

"Rose! Hugo!" Lily called, waving at them. The duo grinned at her from a distance, and ran over to her with their parents — her aunt and uncle, respectively — trailing along after them.

"Lily!" cried Rose, hugging her tightly. "I've never seen you for a while. Where are James and Albus?"

"Over there by the barrier, along with Mum and Dad and Lupin." said Lily. "I don't want to hear about the Ministry again. It makes me kind of sad."

"Why so?"

"Thinking about all those Muggles...oh, hello, Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione." said Lily jauntily.

"Hello, Lily." Ron greeted, grinning widely that his freckles stood out. "Where's Harry?"

"Over there by the barrier. He's talking to Lupin."

Ron shook his head and clucked his tongue. "Oh, of course. _Lupin_. Cheerful lad, eh, Hermione? Wouldn't stop talking until he's told to."

"That's pretty rude, Ron. You just don't like him because he's marrying Vicky." said Hermione, winking at Lily. Lily's mouth fell. _Teddy is marrying Victoire ? _She didn't believe it. Victoire is her cousin (from Bill Weasley, Ron's eldest brother) and she didn't know that she and Teddy ever dated.

"Oh, close your mouth, dear."

"But how? I mean, I never knew. Teddy never told us he's getting married."

"I guess he was planning to tell us today." said Ron. "_We _just found out today, to much my extreme aggravation. He talked to us for two hours, for crying out loud."

Hermione gave him a disapproving look. "That's not very nice, Ron." she said. "Teddy is family."

"Fine. He talked to us for thirty minutes. Happy?" said Ron, sighing and rolling his eyes.

Rose giggled. "Mum and Dad are always like that." she said, tying her shaggy, red hair into a ponytail. "Mum's always contradictory to Dad. Well, none of what Dad says is of any sense, anyway."

Rose's brother Hugo, a skinny, redheaded boy with freckles all around his face and neck, chuckled under his breath. He was what Lily remembered him to be — with the fiery red hair and rectangular spectacles. Hugo doesn't exactly express his opinions much, and he's very sensitive for a boy, but he's fun, in any case. One thing he's renowned for is that he is very brilliant at Wizarding chess, like his dad. Lily also remembered him as the shy boy who trips over his own feet.

"Hi, Hugo." she greeted. "How are you?"

"Great." he replied. "I've been looking forward to Hogwarts lately. I hope we can sit in the same compartment. I'm pretty perked up"

"Me, too."

On the cue, the train whistle sounded, and in the blink of an eye Lily was inside the train, sitting with three boys in one compartment, all of which having the same fate as the other.

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><p>"Can I have some of that?" A boy asked Lily. "I've heard that they've got new flavours. <em>Booger <em>and _Clam Chowder_, I've heard."

Lily, who was taken aback by surprise, quickly offered him the box of _Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. _The boy, who looked about her age, muttered thanks and ate her last bean — Lily's _last _bean — and she finally regretted that she ever gave it to him. The boy is handsome, she thought, but he is also brimming with averageness that Lily thought was quite impossible. He was of average height, of average skin colour, and of average dirty blond hair. He also has average blue eyes, and his nose was positioned an average distance away from his average eyes, which was framed by his not-so-average eyelashes, and he was dressed averagely — with an average red-coloured sweater and average black Hogwarts robes. He also acted averagely, and ate her last bean in an average manner, yet she found him quite handsome, in an average way.

"Who are you?" asked Lily, not minding her manners.

Their train compartment was shut tight, with Lily, Hugo, and the boy sitting right across from each other. James, Rose, and Albus were at the Gryffindor compartment of the Hogwarts Express, and Lily, taken by surprise, had forgotten to wave goodbye to her parents.

"Lorcan," the boy said. "Lorcan Scamander. What's yours?"

"Lily," Lily answered plainly. "Lily Potter."

"You're dad is Harry Potter." said Lorcan. He said this as a statement, not a question. "Cool. Is it true that he has the…you know?" He rubbed at his forehead to give a hint. Lily nodded. Her dad's scar was as famous as himself.

"I guess so."

"Sweet. So who's that guy sitting right next to you?" asked Lorcan.

Lily shrugged. "Oh, that's Hugo Weasley. He's my cousin."

"He's a Weasley." Again, he said this as a statement, not as a question. "Mum always mentioned the Weasleys. Nice to meet you by the way, Hugo."

Hugo smiled at him, and his freckles stood out. "It's great to meet you, too." he said, then stared pensively out the window. Hugo's not what you would call sociable.

Lorcan, who was clearly content in making new friends, never failed to tell them he had a twin. He said he was raiding the Slytherin compartment at this very moment.

"We ran into a local bully." he said. "One with the name of Scorpius Malfoy. I'd bet you'd know him."

Lily perplexedly shook her head. "No." she said. Whoever this Scorpius Malfoy was, she doesn't really care. But she doesn't want to tell Lorcan that, since she'd hurt his feelings. "Why? Who is he?" she asked.

"Oh, I figured you would know. He's a bully."

"Well, you said that twice already. Why? What did he do?"

"Some stupid thing that pissed my brother off. He's going to be here at exactly five seconds."

Like Lorcan had said, in five seconds, a boy with the same features as the other strode into the compartment door. They were exactly identical, but Lily thought that in some way the other is clearly different from the other. But one thing really caught her interest in particular.

"You can predict when a person will arrive? In seconds?" she asked Lorcan. He just shrugged and grinned at her.

"I also measure things." he said.

"With what?"

"Just by looking at it." He said it as if all people can do that. Lily was open-mouthed. And so was Hugo.

The other boy, Lysander, as what Lorcan had called him, sat beside his brother. He was as average as Lorcan, but they have different smiles. If Lorcan has a calculating, toothy grin, Lysander has a mischievous crescent stuck beneath his average nose. He had that smile now, as if he had just achieved doing something nasty.

"What happened?" Lorcan asked.

"See for yourself." said Lysander, rummaging in his bag to bring out a box of Chocolate Frogs. "There were a lot of them, though. It actually took me a long time to reach him."

"Did they spot you?"

"Well, all of them did. I just fought back. I scraped one in the shins, I tell you. Anyway, who're they?" Lysander asked, pointing a finger at the other two seated in their compartment. He held a look that held anxiety, like he expected them to bite at any moment.

"Oh. That girl's named Lily Potter. The guy's called Hugo Weasley. Call them Lily and Hugo, for short."

"A pleasure to meet your acquaintance." said Lysander. "Call me Lysander. Or Toby, for short."

"Toby?" asked Hugo, raising an eyebrow. "Why do you call yourself Toby?"

"Why? Do you prefer Felix? I've been thinking it's a great name, too. Poncho, will do, but it's too conspicuous." said Lysander, scratching his chin.

"He goes with many names." explained Lorcan to Lily. "He has at least twelve. He prefers to be called by any other name."

"Why does he do that?" Lily asked.

Lorcan shrugged again. "He wants to keep a low profile. He's deathly afraid of spies." he said, as if Lily should know this as an important fact. "Because of that, he has quick reflexes. He can sense whether there's someone sneaking behind him or not. He reads other people's minds like an open book. Sometimes I couldn't stand him."

Lily thought that fact understandable. But in any case, she thought that the twins were quite cool. They just didn't know what great surprise lies in store for them — for all four of them.

And it is not waiting long.

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><p><strong>Look out for the next chapter: The Disbelieving Knight<strong>

**Reviews are extremely welcome! ;)**


	3. The Disbelieving Knight

**Thank you for all those who reviewed, ESPECIALLY RABIDUS LEX AND SARAROOOOSSEE I really appreciate all your comments. But, to make things better, can any of you submit a couple of suggestions, riddles, anagrams, paradoxes, geometrical puzzles, chess puzzles, topological puzzles, and other puzzles that require logic? I would appreciate your help, really. I'll give an example: **_**What is wrong with this statement? **_**In this puzzle, the answer will be: **_**It's not a statement. It's a question.**_** That's what I mean. You can submit your suggestions along with your reviews, but if you don't want to, it's okay. I understand. Please help me! Personal favour.**

**CONGRATULATIONS TO MISS PHILIPPINES, MISS SHAMCEY SUPSUP, FOR BEING IN THIRD PLACE IN MISS UNIVERSE! WE FILIPINOS ARE PROUD OF YOU! XDD**

**~joaleennicole**

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><p><strong>Chapter Three<strong>

**The Disbelieving Knight**

"Care to play chess?" asked Lorcan, producing his chessboard and laying it carefully between him and Hugo. Hugo flinched at Lorcan's offer, but he said yes, in any case. He was bored because of the long train ride, and he was also unable to sleep, unlike Lily and Lysander, who were slumped unconscious in their own seats.

"You play Wizarding Chess?" Lorcan asked. "What do you want to be? White or red?"

"White." Hugo replied.

"Sure, sure. I'll take red. Where did you learn how to play chess?"

Hugo plainly replied, "Dad."

"Oh. Is he a good player?"

"Yeah. Pretty much so."

"Then this'll be a nice match. You move first."

Hugo looked hard at his chess pieces, and resisted the urge to laugh out loud. Lorcan seemed to have a funny set — he found his bishop picking its nose, and his knight and rook were playing rock, paper, and scissors with each other. He found it really funny, but he still resisted his urge to laugh. He cared more about how others would think of him than what he thinks of others.

"f3," he said. His knight moved forward. "I've moved the knight. Well, quite a stupid move I say."

Lorcan grinned. "It's not a stupid move. Knight first, eh? It's the only piece that can leap over other pieces, didn't you know?" He took a deep breath. "e3."

Lorcan's pawn moved a space forward. Hugo suddenly saw that's there no point in risking his knight for that matter, so he simply said, "Ng1."

His knight moved back to its starting position.

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><p>When Lily woke up, she found Hugo playing chess with Lorcan. Instead of smashing the opposing pieces, the other pieces just gave others a weenie. Out of humiliation, with its underwear covering half of its head, Lorcan's pawn, which was defeated by Hugo's bishop, left the board weeping.<p>

"What kind of chess is that?" she asked. "Why are the other pieces so mean?"

Lorcan shrugged. "Mum bewitched them. She said that weenies were a lot safer than destroying. I find it funny, though." he said, snorting.

"It's very nice." she complimented.

"Yeah. Hey, Lily?"

"Yes, Lorcan?"

"Can you please wake up Lysander for me? I think that he's drooling on the furniture."

Lily smiled. She nudged Lysander on the shoulder. "Hey, Lysander, wake up." she said.

"Huh? _What?_" he replied.

"Wipe your mouth. Were almost at Hogwarts."

And indeed they were, for Lily saw the castle, with its turrets sticking out of the sky.

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><p><strong>Look out for the next chapter: The Malodorous Lot<strong>

**Thanks again, Rabidus Lex and Sararoooossee. Both of you made me happy. Love you both! :)))**


	4. The Malodorous Lot

**Welcome!**** The first three chapters are very boring as you may say, but the fourth chapter is where everything begins. I introduce you to my new OC's! They're very important characters ****— the first brought all of them together, and the other is the main antagonist. They're both professors at Hogwarts, but you'll know them more if you read this chapter from first word to last. Enjoy! (I hope so)**

**Thanks for reviewing, reviewers!**

**MALODOROUS (adj.) – giving off a strong or unpleasant smell; smelly**

**LOT (noun) – a large amount; a group**

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><p><strong>Chapter Four<strong>

**The Malodorous Lot**

"Firs' years! Callin' all firs' years!" a booming voice greeted the students as they filed out of the Hogwarts Express. Because of the man's voice and tremendous size, the first years immediately lined up behind him — Lily, Hugo, and the twins included. He was massive — about ten feet in size — and he was wearing a weather-beaten shirt beneath a weather-beaten coat. He was also wearing weather-beaten shoes on his size-forty feet, and Lily could see some of his huge toes poking out of his shoes. He had a full, grey-black beard, trimmed squarely that it reminded her of a hedge. The only peculiar thing about him is that he has a pink, flowery umbrella strapped against his side.

"Oi! Ain' I know yeh?" he yelled, barreling towards her. Lily ducked as he picked her up into a hug that was as bad as Lupin's. The only difference was that Lupin's hug was like being hit by a tractor; his felt like being hit by the entire farm.

"I always wan' ter see yeh!" he said. "Harry'd bin tellin' me yer goin' ter Hogwarts! Yer Lily, ain' I right?"

"Yes." Lily replied the moment he placed her gently onto her feet. "And I'm guessing you're Hagrid."

"Smart lass, aren' yeh?" said Hagrid. "Oh, yer like yer dad, all righ'. Wer's that Weasley boy?"

"That would be me." said Hugo in a strained voice. He was hiding behind Lily, clutching his ribs. Hagrid just mussed up his hair so bad that his spectacles almost fell off.

"Mm-hm. I remem'er yer dad, too. An' yer mom. Brigh' lass isn' she? I remem'er one time when he messed me rug. The slugs he puked out nearly ate me pumpkins, I tell yeh."

Lily held back a laugh. Hagrid grinned widely at her.

"Oh, yer so big now, Lily," he said, blowing into his embroidered handkerchief. "I wan' ter hug yeh some more."

Hagrid was about to pick her up into a hug again when, luckily, something — or someone — caught him off guard. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hagrid!" a raspy, old voice called. Lily suddenly heard a sort of screeching sound — like wheels that were forgotten to be oiled properly. She jumped back, though, when an intimidating man in a wheelchair screech to a stop in front of her.

He was intimidating, indeed, in a way that some first years scrambled back to not catch his eye (or eyes). He was thin to the extremes, with wisps of white hair sprouting out from his nearly bald head. His nose looked like an overcooked potato, and he had one mole on his weak and pointy chin. His face, all in all, resembled that of a turtle. But it wasn't his face that was intimidating — it was his eyes. They were eyes, all right, but when you look closely, or when he looks at you, you will be in fact startled by them, since his one eye was pale blue, and the other coal black. They glinted, and they held malice and other more nasty things known to man.

"Hagrid?" he asked, not taking his eyes off Lily.

"Yes, professor?"

"What're you doing?"

"Hangin' roun' the firs' years, sir."

"You should've left that job to Mundungus Fletcher. That bloke should do a bit of exercising, if he doesn't want the Ministry to be his enemy."

"Dung don' wanna do it, sir. An' I volunteered fer meself."

The man in the wheelchair glared more at him. "Suit yourself, then," he sneered. "But first, have you seen my glasses?"

"What glasses, sir?" Hagrid asked. "I've ne'er seen yeh wearin' glasses before."

"Don't lie."

"I'm jus' hangin' roun' the firs' years, sir. I've never seen anyone with em'."

"Yet," said the old man. "When you see someone with them, bring him to me." He took his eyes off Lily for just a second — just a brief second — and then said, "I'll ask someone else. If I see anyone of you — _anyone of you _— with my old glasses, I'll ask Professor Sinistra if I could drop you off the Astronomy tower. Or _worse,_" he said, his face inches from Lily's now, his putrid breath fanning her face. "I'll crush you beneath the wheels of my chair."

He spun his wheelchair around and drove it like a madman.

Hagrid breathed a sigh of relief. "Ol' Simonoff's crazy. I've not seen anyone so…so —"

"Creepy-looking?" Lysander asked. "He scared the wits out of me!"

"Er, yes, mister…?"

"Toby." said Lysander, grinning.

"Er...yes. Toby. Anyway, Mundungus Fletcher had bin given me ol' job by the Ministry. Dung's gamekeeper now, but that ol' bloke won' do his job."

"Why did the Ministry give him your old job, Hagrid?" Hugo asked.

Hagrid scratched his bushy head. "He stole a lot of stuff, I guess. An' he won' pay back. He wants me ol' job."

"Oh," said Lysander. "So he's really a load of dung, isn't he?"

As he said that Lily saw him pass something reflective into Lorcan's hand, and the twins grinned at each other like they had accomplished the best job in the world.

* * *

><p>"I think you should return them," said Hugo, eyeing the glasses with wary eyes. "Simonoff's not going to be pleased."<p>

"Who cares?" said Lorcan, tossing them to Lysander. The moment Hagrid turned around to check on them, the twins hid the glasses in the sleeves of their robes. "Simonoff's going to forget about them, no doubt about that. They're just dumb, broken, no-good, old glasses. You can't even see through them."

"Well, I get mad when someone steals my glasses. I can't see a fly whenever my sister places a hex on them. She has the habit of doing so."

"Well, those are your glasses, anyway, not Mr. Turtle-Face's." said Lysander.

The four of them followed Hagrid, who produced a lamp out of nowhere, his pink and flowery umbrella swinging by his side. He seemed to be whistling, and he whistled hard indeed when they reached the cold lake. Lily already had bad thoughts about the giant squid gobbling the first batch of students who crosses the lake.

Traditionally, Hugo explained, first years cross the lake other than ride the station wagons like the older students. It was told that the reason it was done so was that to ensure that the first years be given the traditional welcoming to their very first year at Hogwarts. It also signals the beginning of the Sorting Ceremony, where first years will be sorted to their designated Houses named after the four founders of Hogwarts. Hugo hadn't mentioned anything about the giant squid, but the moment Lysander pointed the fact out to him he began sweating profusely.

"Scared now, are you?" jeered Lysander. "I'm not. I would really like to try swimming with it, by the way."

"It's _cold._" said Hugo.

"Where's the fun if it's not? Nothing perks you up better than ice-cold water. Look at the giant squid."

"No one has seen the giant squid yet, Lysander."

"Sure, someone did." said Lysander. "Mum said she had seen it — one of its feelers, perhaps."

Hugo scrunched up his eyebrows. "Squids do not have feelers." he said, taking off his spectacles and polishing them with intensity. "They have _tentacles."_

"Well, they're the same thing, aren't they?"

Hugo gave up on the idea. He figured that arguing with Lysander is pointless. Instead, he fixed his spectacles carefully onto the bridge of his nose and listened to Hagrid, who seemed to be barking out the rules.

"If anyone falls inter the lake, relax an' keep all yer muscles light. I'll pull yeh back in, I s'ppose. But yeh try ter avoid trouble." said Hagrid. "So yeh all don't try ter fall in. Big trouble fer me an' yeh."

"You got into a lot of trouble before. Haven't you, Hagrid?" a squeaky voice yelled from among the first years. "Father and Brother said that you were _expelled_. Shame you didn't finish your schooling."

Lily spun around to see who had insulted Hagrid. She was a girl, and she wore an expression that looked as if she had something nasty under her nose. She has slick, pale blond hair, cruel grey eyes, and a sly sneer plastered onto her elfish face. Her ears seemed to be too big for her head, and her forehead too wide that she looked like one of the gnomes in the Weasley garden.

Hagrid coughed. "It's all true. Yer that Malfoy girl, aren' yeh? Nasty bloodline. Too bad another one's coming to Hogwarts. I had me hands full, already."

Malfoy frowned and was about to say something when Lorcan spoke up. "Can we board the boats now, Hagrid?" he asked. "I don't want to stay here with bad company." Hagrid scratched his head and looked at Lorcan with grateful eyes, not noticing the Malfoy girl scowl even more. The twins chortled in unison.

Hagrid looked perplexed. "Er, sure." he said, holding his lamp up a bit higher. "No more'n four persons, firs' years."

The first years each scrambled to get into a boat. Lily, Hugo, and the twins boarded into what looked like a newly painted one. Hagrid, on the other hand, needed an old one all to himself.

"I hope the giant squid isn't real." muttered Hugo as he climbed in.

"Worry about getting sick." said Lysander as he pointed to the Malfoy girl, who began puking even though her boat hasn't slid into the water yet. Lily had the idea that the twins had something to do with it.

* * *

><p>"What did you feed her?" Lily asked as their boat slid smoothly onto the black water. "I've never seen anyone puke that bad."<p>

"Puking Pastilles." the twins replied in unison.

"_Puking Pastilles?" _Hugo repeated.

"Yeah. Puking Pastilles." said Lysander, grinning. "I dropped two. It's no surprise Scorpius gave away the other one. I assume that he's puking all over his carriage right now."

"Yeah. But we didn't know that he has a _sister_. Now isn't that fun?" said Lorcan, grinning.

Hugo seemed to mull over that fact, then said. "You buy stuff from Dad's shop?

The twins looked surprised. "Your dad owns Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes?" they asked.

"He's a co-owner, actually." Hugo replied. "He works with our uncle George."

"Cool. Then we can get discounts."

Lily said nothing after that. The other three chatted about the stuff bought from her uncles' shop, and Lily stared out into the pitch-black lake. The air was chilling enough that the hairs on her arms and neck stood up, but the full moon from above looked so big that Lily just leaned back to admire the view. It was a long ten minutes and twenty seconds, from what Lorcan had calculated, until they reached the cliff. Their boat sailed smoothly beneath it, where curtains of ivy hang. They also went through a dark tunnel, until they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

"Alrighty, then. Board out!" said Hagrid, helping the green-faced Malfoy girl get out of her boat. "Keep close, an' follow me."

He led them up a slope, towards rather large, oak doors, which opened automatically as they passed through. Stone gargoyles decorated the castle turrets, and the children gasped in awe at the sight of them.

As they went through the doors and stopped in the hallway, Hagrid was giving out a few pointers.

"Yeh'll wait fer Proffesor Montmorte here." he said. "He's about ter fetch yeh. Professor McGonagall called fer me. Summat abou' the, er, thing upstairs. Won' be stayin' here ter stay with yeh. Good luck."

With those last words (and a wink to Lily), he headed through the hallway.

"_Wow," _said a pale-faced boy from behind them. "I never knew Hogwarts was this _huge_."

"It's a castle, dummy." replied a girl. "That's why it's huge."

"Our manor is bigger,"

"No. Ours is."

Soon, everyone was gaping and gasping about the size of the castle, and it was such a racket that it alerted a little man in a bell-covered hat and an orange bowtie. He wasn't human, and he was creating a noise even louder that what the first years had created.

"Ooh. Ickle firsties! What fun!" he yelled. "Ickle firsties, ickle firsties!" and with each word he flew and blew raspberries, smashed vases, pulled robes, toppled students, and worse, dropped fart bombs at them. Lily ducked as one exploded at her feet, pulling Hugo aside with her.

"_Runny, runny, ickle firsties, smell so funny, ickle firsties!" _the thing sang as the students scattered around the hallway, making the place smell vile. The twins were howling with laughter.

"_Peeves!_" they yelled.

"Who's Peeves?" asked Lily.

"Only the school poltergeist." they replied in unison. "He's the worst poltergeist ever known, but he's cool, actually!"

"Why should that be a good thing? He's wrecking the school!"

A small girl ran as Peeves swooped down towards her, holding a fart bomb.

"_Bad, little firstie! Peevsie's angry." _ He didn't look angry at all. He cackled and threw the fart bomb. The girl toppled down as she tried to duck.

"PEEVES!" a voice yelled, echoing across the corridor. "Don't let me call the Bloody Baron! He'll hear about this, I mean it!"

With a swish of his twilight-blue robes, a very tall, wizened man with a trimmed brown beard, trimmed long hair tied with a ribbon, and trimmed eyebrows, marched towards Peeves, waving his walking stick.

Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the rest of the fart bombs at them. They heard him zooming away, smashing vases and rattling armour as he passed.

"I'm deeply sorry about Peeves," said the trim, old man to them. "You'd better watch out for him, though. The Bloody Baron is the only one who can control him. He won't even listen to us teachers. Now let's see,"

He pulled out a long list from the inside of his robe. "I believe that I would be reading out the list for the Sorting Ceremony today. I am Oliver Montmorte, but you could call me Professor Monty. Now look decent, all of you, and follow me."

The first years scrambled up and, without forming lines, hurried up after Professor Monty, who was walking with very long strides.

"This lot doesn't smell good." said Lorcan to Lily, pointing towards a group of students.

"Well you don't, either." said Lily.

They were forced to breathe in the horrible smell as they strode through the hallway, half-running after Professor Monty, who wasn't at all pleased about their grubbiness.

* * *

><p><strong>Keep your eyes open for the next chapter: The Sorting Ceremony<strong>

**Well, that's that, I guess. Good, isn't it? Just tell me if it's bad. I'll understand.**

**P.S. Please review! Eheheh.**


	5. The Sorting Ceremony

**Hi. Here's your super-boring narrator today. It's me, apparently. Anyway, here is the fifth chapter (Oh, I got this far) and it's more on the Sorting Ceremony, duh. That's why it's called **_**The Sorting Ceremony**_**. Well, read it now, please, and to tell you frankly, PLEASE REVIEW!**

**P.S. Tell me what you think about my own composition of the Sorting Hat's song. Thanks!**

**~ joaleennicole**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Five<strong>

**The Sorting Ceremony**

The first years followed Montmorte across the flagged stone floor. Lily could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right, but Montmorte was walking too fast that she didn't even have time to bother. Instead, the professor led them into a small, empty chamber off the hall. The room was so cramped that they stood rather closely together.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor Montmorte. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before that, you will be sorted into your own houses. It's very important for you to be sorted since while you are here, your house will be like your family here. You will dine with your house, attend classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"Now the four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has produced the finest witches and wizards that had contributed greatly to our world. While you are staying here at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn you house points, whilst any rule-breaking will make you lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most number of points will be awarded the house cup. I hope that you can contribute to each of your own houses.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes. I advise you to, er, fix yourselves up a bit. I will call for you if everyone's ready for you."

He regarded their smell for a moment. The girl who had been thrown with the fart bomb flattened her hair, which was sticking out in all places, and the Malfoy girl stood taunting the others, without even knowing that she's wearing her robes inside-out. She still looked green from the Puking Pastilles.

"I shall return shortly," said the professor. "Please wait quietly."

He left the chamber. Lily heard Hugo gulp nervously.

"I'm scared." said Hugo to Lily. "I'd heard that the sorting hurts. Well, Rose told me that, apparently."

"Relax," she said. "They wouldn't hurt us. Right, Lysander?"

"I wouldn't be sure about that. I've been told that we'll battle a troll with only our wands."

Hugo frowned. "And how do we do that without even knowing any spells?"

"Easy," said Lorcan. "Stick your wand into its nose, and then it'll start hitting itself on the head with its club. Well, unless you're still clinging to it."

What they said didn't cheer up Hugo a bit. In fact he looked even greener. Lily found Hugo's phobias quite amusing, but she couldn't help being phobic herself. She felt like passing out, and seeing the look on other first years' faces, she figured that she's not the only one. What if it's a test? Preformed in front of the whole school? But she doesn't know any spells yet — one mistake could lead to consequences. Her eyes kept darting to the door. Any second now, and Professor Montmorte would come back and lead them to their doom. The others were all shaking with anxiety, except for the twins perhaps, who were demonstrating their ideas about battling a troll.

"— now stick your wand into my nose." said Lysander.

"That's just gross!" exclaimed Lorcan. "You'll get booger all over my wand. Why won't you let me use your wand instead? It _is _your wand, and it _is _your nose."

"Oh, shut up, will you?" said Lily. "Can't you see that we're all nervous?"

The twins stopped acting foolish and acted nervous instead.

Then something strange happened that made her jump about a foot in the air. There was a booming sound, like an explosion that had been muted out by something. Several students screamed from behind her.

"That wasn't me," said Lysander apologetically. "I hadn't eaten anything since we have left."

"It's not me, either." said Lorcan, shrugging. "I went to the loo even before we made it here."

"I don't think it's either of you." said Hugo. "It's from above."

Involuntarily, they looked up.

"What the —?"

Lily gasped. A ghost wearing a ruff and tights streamed right through the ceiling towards them. He was shaking his head, which lolled around as if it might fall off at any moment. He seemed to be talking to himself.

"This is no good," said the ghost. "They couldn't do that. This whole ceiling might fall off. To cause such an explosion, with just moving a single statue? And the statue's made of metal!"

And he streamed right through the door as if they weren't there.

"Come, now." said a stern voice. Professor Montmorte had returned. "We are ready for you, students. Follow me. Move along now. And form two, straight lines."

He rushed out of the door without even waiting for them to form straight lines. They all ran out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors that led straight to the Great Hall. But before they even crossed it, Professor Montmorte halted them to a stop. A boy with sandy hair nearly bumped into Lily. The professor cleared his throat.

"Students," he said in a flat voice. "Haven't I told you to form two lines?"

They immediately scrambled around to form their lines.

"That's better," said Montmorte, looking pleased. "Come on, now. They're all waiting for you."

And he pushed the doors open.

* * *

><p>Lily hadn't imagined a more splendid place than the Great Hall. It was lit with thousands of candles floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were lined with hundreds of golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers sat. Professor Montmorte led them up there, facing the other students, with the teachers right behind them. Lily felt nervous that her eyes lingered towards the ceiling, and gasped herself. The ceiling was dotted with many stars here and there, with the moon right among them. It reflected the sky outside.<p>

"It's made so that we could see the heavens from above," said Montmorte, sighing heavily. Lily had noticed that he was holding a very battered, very old wizard's hat in his arms. Montmorte quickly regained his attention and placed the hat on a stool that he had set up without anyone noticing. He was so quick at handling things that you might have thought it impossible for him to have done so.

Just looking at the hat made Lily feel as if her legs had turned to lead. It was very old indeed, and she couldn't help but wonder what they are going to do with it. She stared at it and waited for something strange to happen. For a few seconds, the hall elapsed into great silence. Then the hat twitched. Its rim opened wide like a mouth — and the hat began to sing:

_I am a hat, a wizard's hat,_

_A battered one you see._

_But I can help for greater good._

_Your worries can be free._

_I am to sort you house to house,_

_I see through your desires._

_Sit on this stool and put me on,_

_Cause I can be benign._

_Brave Gryffindor admits you all,_

_The bravest felt so fine._

_He thought that they could face all odds,_

_And all of them are prime._

_Good Hufflepuff not ever picked._

_She's vastly kind indeed._

_In fact she knitted me by hand._

_How kind and great was she!_

_Fair Ravenclaw from wild moor,_

_Sought those with greater minds._

_She handpicked those who had excelled._

_She was so fair and wise._

_Great old Slytherin sought all those,_

_Who crave their hearts' desires._

_Clever was great Slytherin._

_He had a cunning mind._

_Don't be afraid, go put me on._

_The Sorting Hat is I._

_Sit on this stool so you could see._

_The Sorting Hat is I._

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed three times and then became quite still again.

"I'm still nervous, though." whispered Hugo. "What if there are cobwebs in that hat? If there are cobwebs, then there are spiders."

"Spiders don't live in hats." said Lysander.

"But they live in _cobwebs_," said Hugo weakly. "Not hats."

Lily's nervousness faded a little. She was relieved that they're just going to try on the hat, but she did wish that they could try on the hat without everyone in the hall watching. James and Albus were out there, and she knew that James wouldn't miss a chance to tease her if she made a mistake.

Professor Montmorte pulled out a long roll of parchment from the sleeve of his robes.

"When I call your name, please sit on the stool and put on the hat so that you may be sorted." he said. "Anwhistle, Trevor!"

The small boy who bragged about his family manor back at the hallway stumbled out of line, put on the hat, and sat on the stool. The hat fell down over his eyes. A moment's pause and —

"RAVENCLAW!" shouted the hat.

The whole table at the left erupted into cheers as Trevor ran to join them. He sat in one of the seats and grinned merrily at the other Ravenclaws, who were clapping him hard on the back.

"Benson, Lee!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Lee tripped over his own legs to sit at the table on the right.

Professor Montmorte continued reading out the list. "Boot, Iris!" he called.

"RAVENCLAW!" said the hat. Iris scuttled along to sit right next to Trevor Anwhistle.

When "Brooch, Alfred" became the first Slytherin, the table on the far right burst into cheers. Lily saw Scorpius Malfoy (or so she thought it was him) muss up Alfred Brooch's hair. Lily thought that they were quite an unpleasant lot, since Scorpius was with them.

Sometimes, she noticed, the hat shouted out the house almost at once, but sometimes it took it a whole minute for it to decide. Lily almost at once had a horrible thought about this. What if she hadn't been chosen? What would her dad and her mum say about it?

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!" Professor Montmorte called.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

"Finnigan, Shaun" was the first to be sorted into Gryffindor. It was the table from the far left's turn to cheer. Lily saw James, Albus, and Rose run to meet Shaun as he nearly forgot to take the hat off.

"Greene, Alison" was sorted into Griffindor, too, but she was so weak-kneed that she nearly stumbled onto the stool and knocked the hat off. She was much too tiny compared to "Harrison, Vincent," who was sorted into Slytherin. Harrison's head was so large that the hat barely fit into his head. He gave the hat to "McDougal, Anthony" who was sorted into Slytherin, too.

The Malfoy girl, who was named Astoria, swaggered forward when her name was called. The hat barely touched her head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!"

Astoria went to join her brother, who went to meet her.

The line was becoming shorter and shorter as names were called.

"Moon"…, "Nott"…, "Paige"…, "Parkinson"…, then "Peace, Cygnus" became a Gryffindor, and then, at long last —

"Potter, Lily!"

As Lily stepped forward, she saw James and Albus grinning from the Gryffindor table. She tried as hard as not to be nervous, stepping up towards the stool. She placed the Sorting Hat on her head, and it dropped down over her eyes until she saw only blackness.

"Oh, yes," said a small voice inside her ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. You have a great mind…very great mind. You can be sorted into Ravenclaw, perhaps, but a very fair heart indeed. Hufflepuff, perhaps, my dear? Or Slytherin? Cunning mind…a thirst for power. No, Gryffindor, since you have plenty of courage. My goodness — where should I put you?"

The Sorting Hat silenced for quite a time. It was pondering, perhaps, but Lily hadn't thought that the whole hall had gone into a weird silence. It was what she had feared. Perhaps she wouldn't be sorted after all. She gripped the edges of the stool. After a very long three minutes —

"Well, you'd better be — GRyFFINDOR!" shouted the hat.

She had the loudest cheer yet. James and Albus were hooting, shouting, "That's our sister! That's our sister!" Rose jumped up and down and waved her arms at her.

Lily nearly stumbled out of her seat. She placed the hat on the stool and went to sit at the Gryiffindor table, where the cheering was very hard. She went to sit between Rose and Albus.

"That was very long," said Rose. "Three minutes, at least. How come it took you quite a time?"

"I dunno. It just said that I can be sorted into any of the houses. It even reconsidered sorting me into Slytherin." said Lily.

"Congratulations, then," said Rose. "That you weren't sorted into Slytherin."

Lily looked up at the High Table, where the teachers sat. She recognized Hagrid, who was clapping the hardest yet, and a tabby cat sitting on a large gold chair. Lily was flabbergasted. A tabby cat? Sitting on a chair?

"That's Professor McGonagall," said Albus, seeing the look on Lily's face. "She's an Animagus — oh, you know, people who can shape-shift into animals — and she's our headmistress, too. Montmorte's our _Deputy _headmaster. He's also head of our house. And you may have met Simonoff already."

Simonoff was the most conspicuous. His pale blue eye even glinted from the distance. She actually wished that he'll get his glasses back. On the other hand, Lupin was there, too. He gave Lily a thumbs-up when he caught her eye. He looked like an overexcited schoolboy compared to Simonoff, who was scowling right beside him.

"I hope not," said Lily, lying.

And now there were about six people left to be sorted. Both of the Scamander twins, unfortunately, were sorted both into Ravenclaw. They both gave her thumbs-up and said, "There's still free time." as they brushed past her and sat at the table opposite. She was quite relieved that the Ravenclaw table was right next to theirs. There was "Smith, McGregor," who was sorted into Hufflepuff, and "Thomas, Drew," a black boy that was even taller than Rose. Drew Thomas joined her and Lily at the Gryffindor table. "Ulson, Sandra," who was sorted into Hufflepuff, handed the hat to Hugo, who was pale green by then. Hugo took it, sat on the stool, and placed the hat on his head. Like the Malfoy girl, the hat barely touched his head when it shouted, "GRyFFINDOR!"

Lily clapped loudly with the rest as Hugo collapsed into the chair right across from her, still looking green.

"I didn't know why it sorted me here," said Hugo. "But I'm assuming that it did that because I'm a Weasley."

"No, I don't think so." she said.

Hugo still looked unconvinced. "It's because it _told _me I'm a Weasley. Fred's here, too, you know."

He was right. Fred Weasley II, their cousin, was a Griffindor prefect.

They both looked up at the High Table. Professor Montmorte rolled up his scroll, tucked it carefully in his sleeve, and carried the stool away.

Then the tabby cat from the High Table leapt down over to the ground. Lily was stunned. At the cat's place on the ground was a rather stern-looking woman in emerald green robes. She had greyish black hair tied into a tight bun at the top of her head. Lily knew, from the way she regarded the students with great authority, that this was Professor Minerva McGonagall, the headmistress of Hogwarts.

Professor McGonagall stretched her arms out wide, as if she was excited to see them at long last.

"Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts!" she said. "Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. ("Oh dear," said James.)

"Now this is the start of a new beginning. You are back here to learn, and to learn you must do. Hogwarts is here to enrich you once again to gain new ideas and enhance your knowledge of our world and other worlds as well. In 1997, Hogwarts had perceived the most epic battle the world has ever known. Now in those days the world was enveloped in darkness and sorrow. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named plagued wizards and Muggles alike, and he governed —"

And that was all Lily could hear of McGonagall's speech. The professor backtracked and sidetracked to give the exact details of what happened in 1997, and she only caught the words "Voldemort," and "Harry," and "Dumbledore". She was too hungry to listen, and the others were, too. James was already groaning.

"She said a few words," he said. "But I see she included all the gory details."

His head drooped into his golden plate, and then he snored.

When McGonagall ended her speech ("I hope that all of you will enjoy this year at Hogwarts, and be as one with your fellow students. Thank you!"), the rest of hall erupted into applause. The others were either snoring or drooling or clutching their stomachs.

McGonagall sat back down. Everybody cheered, perhaps because they liked her speech, or perhaps because it was the start of the banquet.

"Well, that's better," said Albus. "Care for roast beef, Lily?"

Lily's mouth fell open. She hadn't realized it, but the platters in front of her were filled with mountains of food. She hadn't seen this too much food in only one table. It was filled with everything: from roast beef to roast turkey, mashed potatoes, fried potatoes, lamb steak, beef steak, pork chops, lamb chops, ham, treacle tart, Yorkshire pudding, chocolate pudding, Black pudding, all sorts of puddings, peas, carrots, celery, gravy, ketchup, peppermints (which she hadn't dared touched since she's allergic to them) and all other dishes and delicacies it all had to offer.

She piled her plate with nearly everything and ate spoonful after spoonful. It was all delicious.

"Tastes good?" said the ghost in the ruff she had seen back in the chamber. "It's been ages since I had eaten."

"Care for some?" offered Lily, who dared not to be rude.

"Oh, no." said the ghost. "But I do miss it. The last thing I ate before I died was leftover lamb chops. They don't taste good. Haven't I introduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, at your service. Dead for nearly four hundred and fifty years, and resident ghost of Griffindor Tower."

"Oh, I know you!" said Shaun Finnigan. "You're Nearly Headless —"

"Oh, yes. _Nearly Headless Nick_," said Nick impatiently. "But I do prefer to be called Sir Nicholas. Chopped in the neck fourteen times but haven't even chopped my head off properly! It would be better if I could join the Headless Hunt if not for _this_,"

He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell onto his shoulder like a hinge. They could see a little sinew and skin connecting his head to his neck, like tape. Nearly Headless Nick sighed and flipped his head back the way it had been.

"Well, then," he said, coughing. "Welcome, new Gryffindors! Here to bring glory to our house, I assume? We've been winning for countless of years now, haven't I said that?"

"No, not quite." said Shaun Finnigan.

"Well, I guess I should be skipping the feast and head over to check on the statue at the third floor. It's a nuisance, I tell you."

And Nearly Headless Nick floated away out of the Great Hall.

Soon, everyone was done with supper. Lily scraped the remains of the chocolate-banana cream pie she had for dessert. Then, all the food was gone. Professor McGonagall stood up once again.

"Now for a few words." she said. The hall fell silent.

"First years should know that the Forbidden Forest is in fact, well, forbidden. Older students should remember that as well, especially _those _who want to earn three detentions in a row."

Her eyes flashed towards James, who sank down into his seat.

"Also, our caretaker, Mr. Filch, wants to remind you that no magic is permitted in the school corridors. He also made a list of items that are not permitted to be used during our stay at Hogwarts. These items include everything from… Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. The lists are posted in each of the house dormitories.

"And finally, Quidditch trials will also be held in the second week of the term. Anyone who is interested in playing for their house teams should consult Mr. Oliver Wood. That's all. Now, off you go. And, Miss Boot," she said, eying Iris Boot with great uncertainty. "Please remove that large _ornament _on your head. It is very distracting."

Iris Boot removed the large butterfly clip she had worn on her hair.

* * *

><p>The Gryffindors followed Fred through the chattering crowds, out the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. Fred was thrilled to see Lily again — the only times they saw each other was when Lily visits her uncles' shop — and he was fun to talk to, for a prefect. And, for a prefect, he got into detention more than that of James, which was a lot.<p>

Lily dragged her dead feet up the staircase. She was so tired and full that she hadn't been aware of the paintings whispering and pointing at her and the others. Fred, chatting happily with no one else listening, led them through narrow doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hidden tapestries. Then, they came into a sudden halt at the end of a hallway, in front of a painting of a fat lady in a pink dress.

"Here we are," he said. "The Fat Lady."

The Fat Lady frowned when she heard what Fred had called her. "Password?" she said in a sharp tone.

"Wilderbarrow." said Fred. The portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in a wall. They all scrambled through it, and found themselves in the Griffindor common room — a cozy, round room, complete with a fireplace, a hearth rug, and squashy armchairs.

Fred directed the boys through one door to the dormitory and the girls through the other. Lily, too tired even to say goodnight to Hugo, clambered up the spiral staircase towards the top where, at long last, they had found their beds. Their trunks had already been brought up. Lily pulled on her pyjamas and sank into the lowest bunk of the four-poster. She closed her eyes, and instantly gave in to sleep.

But what _was _that statue in the third floor? Everyone knew, but confused as well.

* * *

><p><strong>Look out for the next chapter: Flying Lessons<strong>

**Okay. Maybe it's a little boring. It's long, yes, and it's boring. I just wasted my time, I guess. But please scan through and tell me if it's okay. It might be boring, but so full of ideas. Eheheh. I want you to review, by the way. Thanks a lot!**

**~See that balloon located below? That's a review button. Click it, and you'll be rewarded :))**


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